Rourkela: A 36-year-old Sanskrit teacher has been accused of sexually harassing seven girl students of a government-run school in Odisha’s Sundargarh district.
According to sources, the teacher fled the town after learning that the girls were proceeding with a police complaint. The girls reported the matter to the headmistress of the school, who lodged a written complaint at Gurundia police station on August 20.
The incident allegedly took place on August 16.
A case has been registered against the teacher under Sections 74 (assault or criminal force on a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty), 75 (sexual harassment) and 351 (2) [criminal intimidation] of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and sections 8 (sexual assault) and 12 (sexual harassment) of the POCSO Act.
“We have recorded the statements of the students under 180 of BNSS and moved the magistrate to record their statements under 183 of BNSS,” IIC of Gurundia police station Rameswar Singh told PTI.
Efforts are on to trace the absconding teacher, Singh added.
Sources further stated that the teacher faced sexual harassment charges in the past too and had received a warning from the school authorities.